Author: KJ McElrath

Another Ethics Watchdog Steps Down – Is Anyone Left to Hold Trump Accountable?

Another Ethics Watchdog Steps Down – Is Anyone Left to Hold Trump Accountable?

Posted by | Jul 10, 2017 | |

For the second time in recent weeks, another high-level government ethics official has resigned, citing frustration over the open corruption that has become the hallmark of the Trump Administration. This past week, Walter M. Schaub, director of the Office of Government Ethics, announced that he was stepping down six months early. Like former Compliance Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice Hui Chen, Schaub has been an outspoken critic of the Trump Administration and its ongoing questionable behavior. In his resignation letter, Schaub extolled the efforts of his colleagues, pointedly praising them for their commitment to “protecting the principle...

Read More
Louisiana Congressman Uses Holocaust Gas Chamber as Setting to Promote Militarism

Louisiana Congressman Uses Holocaust Gas Chamber as Setting to Promote Militarism

Posted by | Jul 7, 2017 | , |

During a recent visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins filmed a video that at first, has the feeling of a documentary – but turns out to be a fear-mongering call for increased militarism. During the five minute presentation, Higgins is shown walking through the various rooms  – including a gas chamber – describing the atrocities that took place there during the Second World War. Right in the middle of an explanation of how victims were put to death using an insecticide known as Zyklon-B, he declares, “This is why Homeland Security must...

Read More
DoJ Watchdog Quit Because She Could No Longer Uphold Standards in Corrupt Admin

DoJ Watchdog Quit Because She Could No Longer Uphold Standards in Corrupt Admin

Posted by | Jul 6, 2017 | , |

Former Compliance Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice Hui Chen went public this week with the reasons behind her resignation this past spring. The highly-trained, expert lawyer who has vast practical experience in corporate law and holding corporate offenders accountable revealed that she basically had to throw her hands up in the face of unprecedented corruption, unable to uphold standards for an administration that clearly held none itself. In her own words, Chen said, “Trying to hold companies to standards that our current administration is not living up to was creating a cognitive dissonance that I could not...

Read More
Trump’s Latest Power Grab: Voter Suppression and How the States Are Fighting Back

Trump’s Latest Power Grab: Voter Suppression and How the States Are Fighting Back

Posted by | Jul 4, 2017 | |

Trump made no secret last year that his priority was to discourage and prevent voting among those most likely to oppose him – namely, African-Americans, younger women and white progressives. Last October, his campaign officials were quite frank about this, telling Bloomberg News about the strategies they were employing in order to suppress the vote among that demographic. Now that Trump has wormed his way into the White House, he is attempting use yet another executive order so as to cement his grip on power by further disenfranchising voters most likely to oppose him. The good news is that...

Read More
Google Hit With Antitrust Fine of $2.7 Billion – Could Amazon and Facebook be Next?

Google Hit With Antitrust Fine of $2.7 Billion – Could Amazon and Facebook be Next?

Posted by | Jun 30, 2017 | , |

After a seven-year long investigation, European Union officials have ordered search engine giant Google to pay a €2.4 billion fine ($2.7 billion USD) for unfair, noncompetitive trade practices. The company is accused of using its market dominance to favor its own shopping services. In a media statement this week, EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said, “In Europe, companies must compete on the merits regardless if they are European or not.  What Google has done is illegal under E.U. antitrust rules. Google’s strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn’t just about attracting customers [or] about making its product better...

Read More